A federal judge, Catherine Eagles, ruled for the Greensboro Thursday, granting a permanent injunction against a new state law that remakes the City Council.
That means the law will not go into effect for this City Council election cycle. Its ultimate fate will be decided at a future trial to take place before the 2017 election.
Judge Eagles heard arguments for nearly two hours in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro before making a ruling.
“It appears ... that the new statute deprives Greensboro voters, alone among municipal voters in the state, of the right to change the city’s municipal government by referendum ... without a rational basis,” Eagles wrote in her order Thursday. “The plaintiffs would suffer irreparable harm should the 2015 election go forward under the new law.”
The city’s traditional council structure and district maps will remain in place through November’s election.
Filing for City Council races begins Monday.
At issue in the lawsuit: A law passed by the General Assembly earlier this month that redraws Greensboro’s City Council districts. The law did away with at-large representation, created a council of eight members elected from districts and a mayor chosen by the entire city. Under the new law, the mayor wouldn’t have voted except in the case of a tie or in some personnel matters. The law also extended council terms from two years to four, moved the election to October, with a November runoff, and prevented the city from altering its form of government or changing the council district lines. That made Greensboro the only municipality in the state without that ability.
The city sued over the law, arguing that by singling Greensboro out, the law violated provisions of the North Carolina and U.S. constitutions that guarantee equal protection.
When N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper declined to defend the law, the General Assembly decided not to hire outside attorneys, essentially leaving the law undefended in Thursday’s hearing.
Because the city is likely to win in a final trial as well, the General Assembly will try another redistricting bill between now and the 2017 election.
Senate Bill 36, the original plan to redistrict Greensboro, is still active and sitting in a House committee. Legislators could retool that bill, removing the pieces that made it vulnerable in the city’s lawsuit and pass a new version.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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